A curious Illyana asks what the crouching Ashake is doing. Trying to read the future, the sorceress explains. The sorceresses of her line have different strengths and foresight is not her specialty. She has created aids to compensate for her weakness, images painted on pieces of bone. They help her understand the influences that shape their lives: Nu of the primordial waters, Amun who rules air and the invisible, Hauhet whose influence is space and visible matter. And Keku, whose domain is darkness and chaos.

They're Tarot cards, sort of, Illyana realizes. In her time, they are paper and the images look different. They reflect her era, Ashake remarks. But like the movement in stars and tides, they continue to reveal the patterns of one's lives.